First Sight (4 page)

“
Yes, we
both
have good taste,” I
agreed
,
“even if Travis doesn’t understand what cold weather is.” 
Travis feigned surprise as
I grinned, unable to
keep a straight face
.

“I’ll have to take you to New York sometime,” he said dryly.  “Then you’ll
understand
what
a real winter is like
.”

“Did you just move down here?”
Marissa
asked, leaning one elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand.

“Yeah, just over the weekend actually.  I’ve got boxes all over my apartment—I
didn’t really give myself much time
to unpack.”

“Where do you live?”
Elizabeth
asked.

“
Here i
n DC
.
 
How about you
ladies
?”

“
Maddy
and
I
both live in Arlington—we’re
like a block away from each other
,
”
Marissa
said
, taking a sip of her iced tea.

“I’m out in the suburbs,”
Elizabeth
explained
.

“Where’s Arlington?”
Travis asked, looking between
Marissa
and me.

As
Marissa
explained the
geography of the
area to Travis, I
thought about
how funny it was that
Marissa
and I lived so close to each other and hadn’t even realized it at first. 
Arlington, VA was
a small city
just across the Potomac River from DC
, with
around
200,000 people
.
 
Lots of young professionals lived there because
they liked the urban environment
,
and
it was an easy
commute
into the city. 
I had a one-bedroom apartment in
the Courthouse area of
Arlington
.  Marissa lived in a different building there with a
roommate, an old
friend of hers from high school
.
  After
Marissa
had
started working
here, we rode the
same
metro
line
home one
night
after happy hour and realized that we
were practically neighbors
.

Elizabeth
and her husband had a house f
a
rther out in the suburb
s
.  She’d invited
a
group of our coworkers
over
one night
last summer for a
barbeque
, and we’d
spent the evening out on
her
patio
while her husband grilled
h
otdogs
and hamburgers
for everyone.
 
Marissa
and I had
brought the ingredients to make margaritas
,
and
we
all had a fun time. 
We
had joked with
Elizabeth
that she was middle-aged now that she had a husband and
a
mortgage, but she was
actually
only 30.
  Although she was usually serious at the office, she loosened up a bit after work whenever we went out to happy hours
or other events
.

“Oh, and you’re not going to tease me this time about living so far from DC?”
Elizabeth
asked with a smile
when neither of us comment
ed about
her living out in suburbia.

“Not
this
time,”
Marissa
said, glancing at me
with a grin
.
  I laughed, and Travis
looked
down at me in amusement.

“All right, what was that look about?” Travis asked with a wry smile
.

“Oh, we just
like to joke around with Elizabeth
—what with
her
being in her
thirties
,
having a
husband
, a
mortgage
,” I said
,
ticking off
reasons on my fingers
.

“But she knows that we love her,”
Marissa
concluded
, giving
Elizabeth
a small hug around the shoulders as the rest of us laughed.

“So you and your husb
and
own
a house?” Travis asked
.

“Yes. 
We just bought it two years ago. 
Marissa
and
Maddy
thought that was quite responsible of
me, having a mortgage and all
,”
Elizabeth
joked.

“
That is quite responsible.
  It must be because you’re in your
thirties
,” he said, turning to me with a
grin as he emphasized the last part
.

“I’m not in my thirties,” I protested, blushing.

“I figured you weren’t,” he said with a smile.  “
And neither of you are married?” Travis asked, looking
first
at me and then
at
Marissa
.

“Nope,” I replied.

“No,
certainly not,
”
Marissa
said, shaking her head.

Elizabeth
and I looked at each other and laughed, while Travis raised his eyebrows questioningly.
 
“I guess you’re not either?”
Marissa asked
, pointing
to
the
empty ring finger on his left hand.

“I’m definitely single,” he said.

The waitress arrived with our food, and we spent the next few minutes in silence as we enjoyed our meals.
  I noticed
that
Travis politely kept his left
arm
in his lap, not on the table
accidentally elbowing me throughout the meal
, as I’d seen so many other guys my age
d
o.  He did seem to have very good manners.
  I took a sip of my diet coke but kept watch of him out of the corner of my eye.

“This is really good,” Travis said, taking another bite of his lasagna.

“
I always order the lasagna when we come here,” I said.  “It’s definitely the best.”

“Y
ou guys will have to tell me the good places to
go
around here since I’m new
in town
.
  I want the inside scoop,
”
he said with a smile.

“
Of course we will,
”
Elizabeth
said.  “
We go out to happy hours
after work
a lot
. 
You should come out with us.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Travis replied.

“
Oh, y
ou should come skiing with us this weekend
!
”
Marissa
said
excitedly
.  “
Elizabeth
, her husband,
Mike,
Maddy
, and I are going.”

“I am?” I asked, looking up at her in confusion.
 
Elizabeth
had been talking about going skiing with her husband for weeks.  I knew that she had invited
Marissa
along, but they both
skied
regularly
and
knew that I had no
real
interest in
learning how
.
  I was surprised that
Marissa
had just invited Travis
, who we
barely knew
,
to come skiing with them
.  Then again, he was new
in
town and had just asked us about stuff to do around here.  Maybe sh
e was just trying to be polite.

“Who’s Mike?
” Travis asked
as
I was looking confusedly at
Marissa
.

“Yes, you are,”
Marissa
said firmly
, looking at me.

“Mike’s the
new
guy that
Marissa
is dating,”
Elizabeth
explained
to Travis
.

“
Marissa
, I don’t know how to ski
,” I
said with a laugh
.
 
“
You
guys
won’t have any fun if I’m there slowing you down
.”

“Oh, come on. 
It’ll be fun. 
Travis is coming too, right?”

“Sure, it sounds
great
,
” Travis said
easily. 
“Definitely
better
than unpacking
all those
moving boxes.”

I glanced over at him as he spoke. 
He looked very athletic, so I was sure that he’d have no trouble skiing
.
  Plus, he was from New York.  He probably grew up
on the slopes
and
skied
with his family
or friends every weekend
.
  I wasn’t sure
that
I wanted to embarrass myself learning how
to ski
in front of him.
  Actually, I didn’t think
that
I wanted to learn how
to ski
in front of any of them.

“So
,
you have to come,
Maddy
,
”
Marissa
concluded
.  “It will be like a team bonding thing.
  And we’ll all help teach you how to ski.
”

“
U
h
,
I don’t know
…
.
” I said, my voice trailing off.  Aside from the skiing part, the trip could be fun.  Maybe I could go ice skating or snow tubing instead while they were
off
whizzing down
the black diamond runs.
 
And didn’t ski lodges have toasty fireplaces to sit by?  I could always relax there, sipping hot chocolate and reading. 
I wouldn’t
mind waiting around while the rest of them skied
.
 
They’d have to come back for lunch or breaks at some point. 
Plus, t
his seemed to be turning into some kind of couples’ trip, which meant that I might get the chance to spend some time alone with Travis
and get to know him a little bit
.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” Travis said
in his deep, warm voice
, looking
over
at me
with a smile
.  “I’ve been skiing since I was a kid.” 
Of course
I thought.  Mike probably knew how to ski
,
too
, so I’d be the odd
one
out.
 
But Travis had just volunteered to help me….

“I think you’d have fun,”
Elizabeth
said
.

“Yes, you totally would,”
Marissa
said
,
nodding in agreement.

“
Okay
, I’ll come
,
too,
” I
finally agreed
.

“
Yay
!”
Marissa
said, clapping her hands together.  This time
Elizabeth
and I exchanged amused glances, but Travis just laughed.